


Better Late Than Never

by Eternally_Exhausted



Series: Soulmates [1]
Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22393561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternally_Exhausted/pseuds/Eternally_Exhausted
Summary: The world is ending, and Benny still hasn't found the other half of his soul. He's wondering if he ever will.
Relationships: Benny/Bad Cop | Good Cop (The LEGO Movie), Emmet Brickowski/Wyldstyle | Lucy
Series: Soulmates [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1636636
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

Bad Cop watched as the Special and his friends celebrated their victory, keeping their distance. Batman had broken up with Wyldstyle, allowing her to be with Emmet- who, as it turned out, was her soulmate, as she was his. Good was happy for them, always a sap for that sort of thing, but also saddened at the same time.

They’d finally realized whose Mark they had, back in the studio. It was just their luck. They had given up _years_ ago, when their thirtieth birthday came and went still with no sign of their other half. And to add insult to injury, it was one of the Master Builders- someone they had hunted for eight and a half years, captured, and damn near _killed_. They wanted to deny it, to scream that there was _no possible way_ the Universe could be so cruel as to pair them with someone on the opposing side of the conflict, but there could be no mistaking the owner of the swooping blue and silver shape over their heart, not as he flew out of the Tower in a custom-built spaceship in those very same colors.

And he was _so close_ now. All it would take was a few steps to close the distance between them and say ‘hi’. _I want to tell him_ , Good said.

“We can’t,” Bad argued. “He won’t want anything to do with us, not after…”

_You don’t know that. He might be happy to know!_

“…I can’t take that risk.”

Good Cop said nothing. The dejection curling through them spoke volumes enough. They would keep their secret until their soulmate confronted them himself.

~* *~

The world had gone to hell so quickly. The celebration had been so short-lived, the arrival of the Duplos interrupting it as they stated their intention to destroy. Emmet, brave soul that he was, tried to make peace with the aliens, but ultimately failed. They’d chomped down on his peace offering, and had very nearly eaten _him_ before Lucy reacted and rescued him.

Thus a new war had started, and showed no sign of stopping any time soon. Just when they thought they’d chased the Duplos off and could rebuild, they came back, smashing and chewing and _taking_ with every visit. And nothing seemed to work against them- the Duplos were impervious to every weapon the Alterrans had thrown at them, and they were starting to get _desperate_ , resorting to more and more extreme measures to fend them off.

But it wasn’t all bad. Benny’s friends had all survived so far, and he’d even made a surprising new friend. Bad Cop had changed his allegiance in the wake of TAKOS Tuesday, instead throwing his lot in with them. It was nice to see that tenacity and resourcefulness used for _good_ , now. Benny had liked Good Cop almost from the start, but Bad Cop was also surprisingly good company. He’d grown to trust the Special’s little team, and opened up around them bit by bit, showing surprising tenderness and a rather silly sense of humor.

Benny sighed to himself. This war was even worse than the conflict with Lord Business, though. So many people were being killed or taken… His fingers sought out the shape over his heart, tracing the complicated knotwork that was his soulmate’s Mark. He started to wonder if he’d ever find out who they were, or if he’d lose them before they ever got the chance to meet. Current circumstances were pointing toward the latter.

“Head lost in the stars again, spaceman?” He glanced up at Bad Cop’s gruff tone.

“Nah, it’s lost in earthly matters.” He watched as the taller man set down next to him, legs dangling over the edge of the roof Benny had perched himself on, and let his head thump against Bad Cop’s shoulder. “Wondering how much worse things are going to get.”

“There’s been talking of building a new city, far past the borders of Bricksburg. Something that won’t catch their attention.”

“I wish I knew why they hate us so much…”

“I wish I had an answer for you,” Bad Cop responded, voice surprisingly soft.

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take, B. It’s been almost two years now, and they’ve already taken so much from us… How much more do they think we have to give? And I…”

“Ben?”

“I guess I just wonder… if I’ll ever get the chance to meet my soulmate. I could die tomorrow, for all I know. Or- or they could be killed, and I’d never know who they were… I feel like I’ve got a clock looming over me just out of sight, counting down, reminding me I’ve got less and less time with every day that passes.” Bad Cop said nothing, only reaching around him to give him a gentle squeeze in commiseration.

~* *~

The Duplos had returned, coming in the dead of night and catching them by surprise. The battle was _ugly_ , and Bad Cop was beginning to fear Benny’s words only several nights before were more premonition than the astronaut had let on. They couldn’t find any of their friends in the madness. Explosions wracked the city as its people fought back against an indestructible foe.

Bad Cop continued to fire on the Duplos, for all the good it was doing. A building toppled over onto one of the aliens, burying it in rubble, but not for long. It dug its way back out after a minute, shook itself off, and let out a deafening scream. Bad Cop clapped his hands over his ears and sprinted away from it as quickly as he could, before his ears started bleeding.

Another explosion nearby sent shrapnel flying everywhere, and they just barely managed to duck behind cover in time. Bad Cop jerked back as a piece of rebar nearly pierced all the way through the concrete wall. As they stepped back out, a flash of blue caught their attention. _Benny!_ Good Cop cheered, and Bad Cop sighed in relief. They’d finally found at least one of their friends.

But something was wrong. Benny was swaying on his feet, head turned toward his right arm. Or rather, what was left of his right arm. “BEN!” Bad Cop screamed, racing toward him. They arrived just in time to catch him as his legs gave out and drag him to safety. There were several more bits of shrapnel lodged in his chest and one of his legs, and he was babbling and sobbing as he trembled in their hold, panic taking over him.

“It’s alright Ben, we’ve got you,” Bad Cop tried to soothe as he ripped off the remains of the sleeve, using a pocket knife to cut it into a strip long enough to tie around Benny’s upper arm and hopefully slow the bleeding.

“I don’t wanna die B-”

“You’re not gonna die Ben, we’ve got you, we’ll get you help-” He had to stop and swallow down bile at all the blood leaking into Benny’s space suit.

“Please, I can’t, I don’t- don’t wanna go, not without my soulmate, not without _knowing_ , _please_ -”

“You won’t,” Good Cop soothed, forcing Bad down and taking Benny’s hand, squeezing gently. “You won’t, Benny, it’s okay, we’re _right here_ -”

**_God damn it don’t just sit there, get him to a hospital!_ **

“You just hold on, Benny, it’s going to be okay,” Good Cop murmured, as much for their own sake as for the spaceman’s, scooping up the limp form into their arms and hurrying back to their cruiser, which by some miracle was still in one piece. Good Cop breathed a quick prayer of thanks as he bundled Benny into the back seat, then flew through the city to the hospital they’d hidden near the start of the war. He hoped they would make it in time.

~* *~

Benny woke to a gentle, rhythmic beeping, and peeled his eyes open. The hospital. What was he doing the- oh. Right. The Duplos had come back. He winced as he tried to sit up, and quickly gave up, remembering the shards of metal that had embedded themselves in his torso. No point in aggravating those wounds. He turned his attention to the stump that was all that was left of his right arm, and sighed, closing his eyes again.

A soft snore caught his attention and he turned toward it, surprised to find the Cops fast asleep in a chair nearby. That had to be uncomfortable. He swallowed hard as he thought of the possible reason why _they_ would be there, and not his friends. He had to know. “Hey,” he rasped, and they jolted awake, blinking blearily.

“ _Ben_ ,” Bad Cop breathed in relief. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah, thanks to you guys.” He attempted to give them a smile, but it fell flat. Bad Cop shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “…Where are the others?”

“They’re here,” the cop was quick to assure. “They’re _all_ here, everyone’s okay. We just… we wanted to talk, first.”

“About…” He gestured vaguely toward his Mark, wincing at the effort it took.

“…Yeah.”

“You were- you were telling the truth? It wasn’t just something you were saying to calm me down?”

“It’s the truth.”

“…How long?” Benny demanded. “You didn’t see my Mark- how long have you known? How long have you _kept it from me??_ ”

“Since the studio,” Bad Cop admitted.

“Two years. Two whole years and you never said _anything_.”

“…I didn’t think you’d want anything to do with us, not after all we’d done to Master Builders. To _you_. I thought you’d be… disappointed. That it was us.”

“And our friendship these past couple years never clued you in otherwise.” Benny huffed at them. “B, you’re a great guy, but I swear you’re an _idiot_. Can I see it?” Bad Cop stared at him for a long moment, then scrambled to get out of his jacket and t-shirt. Benny blinked at him, and snickered a bit, falling silent when his gaze landed upon the Mark on their chest. There was no mistaking the stylized blue and silver shape swooping over their heart. He smiled. “A spaceship. Of course.” Bad Cop hesitated for a moment before pulling their shirt back on and scooting their chair closer to the bed. “I’d show you mine but I’m pretty sure it’s buried under five layers of gauze right now. Sure feels like that, anyway.”

“Tell us?”

“It’s blue and red and black,” Benny started. “Kind of looks like a really complicated Celtic knot. Makes a lot more sense, now.” Bad Cop took his hand, gently brushing his thumb over his knuckles.

“I’m sorry. Good wanted to tell you right away, but I was… I was scared.”

Benny gripped their hand, bringing it up to press a kiss to their knuckles. “You don’t have to be anymore. I’m _glad_ it’s you.” Bad Cop’s smile was enough to brighten the whole room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some short drabbles to follow up. I may write more.

“You really are glad it’s us?” Bad Cop asked. Benny grinned at him.

“Yeah, cause now I can stop trying so hard _not_ to fall in love with you.” He cackled at the fascinating shade of red that Bad Cop’s face turned before reaching to rest his hand on the back of Bad Cop’s neck, pulling them close for a kiss. The cops happily obliged.

~* *~

“So we’ve scouted out the site for the new city and Bruce and I have started sketching up some concepts. We think we’re ready to pitch it, but we’re not sure what to call it,” Lucy was explaining as she spread out some of said sketches for everyone to look at.

They leaned over the table to study the sketches. Bad Cop rolled his eyes, the action going unseen behind his shades. The Duplos would certainly want nothing to do with the disaster being presented to them- it looked like a mess of slapdash shacks piled atop each other. Lucy still managed to read his expression. “I know it looks like a precarious pile ready to topple over the moment you _breathe_ on it wrong, but Emmet’s going to be helping with the structure. We’ll make sure it’s solid, it just _looks_ like a rusty scrapheap.”

“Why not call it ‘Apocalypseburg’?” Bad Cop muttered. Lucy paused, giving him a considering look, even as Benny started to giggle. “Lucy, _no_ , I was just joking-”

~* *~

Benny held tightly onto Good Cop’s hand, letting his partners pull him along as he floated, a blindfold firmly in place. “Is it much further??”

“We’re almost there!” Good Cop promised. The spaceman heard the click of a door opening, and then the blazing heat of the sun was gone. Good Cop released his hand to untie the blindfold and took a step back, holding his arms out. “So… What do you think?”

Benny took a look around. Though Apocalypseburg (the name had stuck despite Bad Cop’s repeated protests) was still under construction, the parts that were finished were ready to be claimed, and it seemed the Cops had wasted no time in choosing a place to settle down. The place was very small, but still managed to be comfortable. They’d managed to salvage a few odds and ends from both their and Benny’s former apartments, decorating the best they could with limited means. Benny’s eyes lit up as his gaze landed on his telescope, bearing a few new scuffs and scrapes but still in one piece. He turned back to Good Cop, who looked surprisingly apprehensive. “It’s _ours?_ ”

“If you want to,” Good Cop said. Benny zipped closer, throwing his arm around them.

“Of course I want to! Heck, I was thinking the same thing really, you guys just beat me to it.” Good Cop smiled brightly at him and held him close, peppering his face with kisses.

~* *~

“So I’ve been thinking of building myself a new arm,” Benny mentioned as he pushed mashed potatoes around on his plate.

“Oh, that’s great, Benny!” Good Cop enthused. “Do you already have a design in mind? We can collect materials for you-”

“Not yet,” Benny answered. He glanced up at them. “I was kinda hoping you might help, since you’re pretty knowledgeable about robotics.”

Good Cop stared. “Oh! Oh Benny, that’s- I-” He retreated, leaving a somewhat surprised Bad Cop in his wake. Benny blinked.

“Uh. Is he okay?”

Bad Cop gave him a reassuring smile. “He’s fine. He’s just very touched that you would ask _us_. We would be honored to help you build your new arm, Ben.”

~* *~

“I’ve got a surprise for you!” Benny sang out as he breezed through the door, hiding something behind his back. Bad Cop glanced up from his book, giving Benny a curious look. Benny bounced, pulling the surprise from behind his back and holding it up for the Cops to see. “Unikitty helped me with it! What do you think??”

It was a black leather biker jacket, and Benny was holding it with the back turned toward them to show off the patch on the back. It was a stylized version of Bad Cop’s face, complete with aviator sunglasses and scowl, a pair of crossed wrenches behind it. Bad Cop started laughing.

“I _love_ it.”

~* *~

All activity ceased when the doors opened unexpectedly. Brawlers began shuffling away from each other with muttered apologies in the face of Good Cop’s disapproving frown. Metalbeard dropped the guy he’d been holding, looking sheepish. No doubt he’d _encouraged_ his friend into this nonsense. At the very center of the fray, halfway sprawled over a table, was the reason for their presence. Good Cop sighed. “Oh, Benny…” He made his way over to the spaceman, looking down at him, hands on his hips. “And what do you have to say for yourself?”

“They said they hate spaceships,” Benny sniffled angrily.

“I think you’ve had enough for tonight, dear,” Good Cop said, scooping Benny up into his arms. He turned a glare onto the pirate. “And you. Stop encouraging him! It’s not helping anything.”

“Aye, my apologies…”

Benny wiped at his eyes and thumped his head against Good Cop’s shoulder as he was carried out of the bar, spying Emmet shuffling nervously as they exited the building. He’d wondered where the Special had disappeared to, once the fighting had started. “Are you mad?” Emmet asked.

“Nah,” Benny mumbled. “You actually did the _smart_ thing.”

“I don’t blame you, you know. It wasn’t very nice of them to keep after you about it. But you can’t _force_ them to change their minds…”

“I know,” Benny sighed. “Maybe next time I’ll take a page from your book and just leave.”

“That would be best,” Good Cop agreed. “Would certainly make _our_ job easier.”

Benny huffed at him, but was beginning to smile. “ _Rude_.” Good Cop only grinned back.


	3. Chapter 3

Benny glanced up as the shop doors popped open to admit the Cops, freshly off duty. “Hey guys,” he greeted before going back to work. They usually didn’t stick around when Benny was in a groove, staying just long enough to get a smooch before heading home to prepare dinner, but this time they didn’t move from the door. Unseen behind his welding mask, he flicked a curious gaze toward them.

“There’s rain coming,” Bad Cop said, surprising him. “Want to grab supper and head up to the overlook?”

Benny flicked off his torch and pushed up the mask. Sure enough, instead of the familiar dry dusty brown, the sky was a wet gray. He lit right up. “Absolutely!” he cheered. “Just give me a few minutes to clean up!” They waited patiently as he put all his tools and equipment away before bouncing over to take their hand. “Lead the way!”

They got some fried meat that was advertised as ‘chicken’ (Benny severely doubted it was actually chicken but he wasn’t about to question its source, food was scarce enough these days) and made their way up Liberty’s arm, settling on the platform just beneath the torch. The flame had already been turned down to just its pilot light and covered in anticipation. Bad Cop took a moment to open the canopy, providing them with cover so their dinner wouldn’t get soggy, then sat with Benny. The astronaut snuggled close, smiling as a distant rumbling reached his ears. Far below, people were scurrying to set out every container they had to spare to collect the rainwater. “Oh!” Benny gasped. “We forgot to-”

“Already did it,” Bad Cop interrupted. Benny laughed.

“At least one of us is on top of things.” He picked at a ‘chicken’ strip as the rain began to fall, swinging his legs over the edge of the platform as they ate in silence. Benny had come to love rain; he’d been indifferent to it, before it became such a scarcity, but now it was a thing to be celebrated. Rain brought peace with it, soothing the hot tempers of the people of Apocalypseburg, who would take any excuse to fight anymore. The rain began to fall harder, and he smiled as the faint laughter of children reached them and glanced down to watch a group of kids running and sliding around in the muddy streets. It came as no surprise when he spotted Emmet dragging Lucy out into the rainfall, halfway dancing as he pulled her along. She could only keep up the ‘tough’ act for another minute before giving in and laughing at him, wrapping her arms around him. “This is nice,” Benny sighed, overcome with a feeling of contentment he hadn’t felt for a long while. He smiled and snuggled close as the Cops snaked an arm around his waist.

“Feels like all is right in the world again, if only for a short while,” Good Cop agreed. He smiled and stuck a hand out past the cover of the canopy, reveling in the feel of the heavy rain stinging his skin.

“Hey, guys?”

“Yes, Benny?”

Benny crumpled up his empty food container. “What do you say we head home and crawl into bed and just cuddle for a while? I feel like being lazy.”

Good Cop laughed. “I like that idea. Let’s do it.”

“Do you trust me?”

The Cops smiled at him. “Always.”

Benny got back to his feet and reached for them. When he was certain they had a good grip on each other, he jumped over the edge of the platform, slowly drifting down toward the little shack they called home. Good Cop’s feet touched the deck first, and he pulled Benny close for a quick kiss before setting him down.

They left a trail of wet clothes as they made their way back to the bedroom. Benny wriggled under the sheets as Good Cop opened the window to better hear the rain before helping him take off the prosthetic. Benny set it on the night table beside him then dragged the cop down with him, earning a startled laugh. He grinned and pecked their cheek before letting his head fall against the pillow, and scooched in close to bring his hand up and trace his Mark on their chest as he relaxed.

Benny was nearly asleep when he felt them shift, a large hand closing around his own, and something cool and smooth sliding down around a finger. He opened his eyes, blinking blearily as he tried to focus on the object, and fell utterly still as he realized what it was. A ring, made of steel that had been polished until it shone, with a shooting star engraved into it (and most likely hand-made, as the Duplos had made off with every piece of jewelry they could get ahold of). He started giggling helplessly. “Darn it. You guys are always a step ahead of me, I don’t know how you do it.”

“Ben?”

He grinned up at them. “I’ve been working on one for you, too. It’s not done yet though, hope you don’t mind waiting a few more days.” Bad Cop’s answer was to lean in and kiss him soundly.


	4. Chapter 4

They watched as the fight got progressively worse. Really, they couldn’t blame the others for being wary (and taking offense when Bruce opened his big mouth about being the ‘leader’), but they had also been _paying attention_ to General Mayhem’s every move. So when she began wiping the ground with their friends (quite literally), they took matters into their own hands. Good Cop pulled out their pistol, made a few quick adjustments, and fired.

The alien spacecraft fell back to the ground with a tremendous crash, sending tremors through the cavern and its pilot tumbling from the cockpit. Mayhem scrambled to get her helmet off- apparently the shot had scrambled the circuitry in the protective headgear as well- and stared at them with wide, mis-matched eyes as they nudged their way through the crowd. Mayhem watched warily as they first helped the Special back to his feet, then pulled out a pocket knife to cut their friends free from their sticky bonds. Benny made a beeline for her ship, scurrying all over it with an excited “spaceship spaceship spaceship!” She turned her attention back to the cop. He was taller than most of the other people of Apocalypseburg, she noted, but still quite a bit shorter than herself. She squared her shoulders, still trying to look tough even without her intimidating helmet. “…Are you the leader, then?”

Good Cop smiled. “Hardly. Our job here is just to keep the peace. And that wasn’t it.”

“Why aren’t _you_ fighting?”

“Because unlike these hotheads-”

“I heard that!” Benny yelled.

“-we were paying attention. You try to talk tough, but your actions speak louder.”

“What are you getting at?”

“You’re very good at fighting, I’ll give you that, but every move you made was either in defense or retaliation.”

“The heck are you talking about?” Lucy scoffed. “She was shooting at us the whole way here!”

“And I’m willing to bet _you_ fired the first shot.”

She folded her arms across her chest, face turning red. “After all we’ve been through with the Duplos, I wasn’t about to take chances.”

“’Everything you’ve been through’? We wouldn’t even _be_ in this situation if _you_ hadn’t started the fight.”

“’We’- you mean _you_ sent them?!”

“…Our queen hoped that their child-like nature would engage your sense of compassion.”

“Yeah, kind of hard to feel _compassionate_ toward someone whose first words to us are ‘we are here to destroy you’. We did try a more peaceful method at first, but they ate Emmet’s offering and very nearly ate _him!_ How the heck did you _think_ we were going to react to that?!”

The general stared at that. “… _He_ made the offering…?”

Lucy gave her a blank look. “After everything I told you about him, you’re really surprised by that.”

“Why’s that important?” Good Cop prompted. Mayhem startled.

“…Those pieces became our queen, they inspired our whole _world_. And this whole time, I thought…” She turned her gaze back to Emmet, seeing him in a new light.

“Perhaps this ‘matrimonial ceremony’ can be postponed?” Good Cop suggested. “It seems we have a lot to talk about.”

Mayhem frowned at him. “I need my ship to contact Systar, and you… I don’t even know _what_ you did to it.”

Good Cop smirked. “You’ve got all kinds of fancy defenses against direct assault, but no shielding whatsoever against electromagnetic pulse.” His gaze shifted away from her. “I daresay Benny’s fixed it already anyway.”

“Fixed-?” She nearly jumped as the astronaut drifted past her to come to a stop at the cop’s side, then turned to see her ship lit up and hovering once again. “…That was fast.”

“That’s the power of a Master Builder.” Good Cop reached for Benny’s hand, but only got a _look_ in return. “…I’m still in trouble, then.”

“You called me a hothead,” Benny sulked at him.

“I don’t hear you denying it,” Good Cop teased.

“ _Rude_ ,” Benny huffed, but finally took his hand, smiling as the cop lifted it to kiss his knuckles.

“Oh,” Mayhem gasped. “You two are-?”

“That’s the other reason we interfered,” Bad Cop answered as he switched out. “We weren’t about to let you take off with our husband.” Benny grinned widely, pressing into his side.

“My hero.”

Mayhem glanced between them, then turned to see how Emmet and Lucy were fussing over each other, and came to a decision. She’d thought her scans had provided all the intel she needed to interact with these people, but clearly she’d been wrong. There _was_ more to them than just toughness and a need to fight all the time. “…Give me a few minutes to get in contact with my queen,” she said. “Perhaps we _can_ come to an agreement without having to resort to political marriage.”


	5. Chapter 5

They wasted no time in introducing Benny to their parents, bringing him to their home as soon as he was released from the hospital. The countryside was left mostly untouched, the Duplos having little interest in anything outside the cities, so far. Bad Cop hoped it would remain untouched until a safer location presented itself. Benny seemed excited at the prospect, wriggling in the passenger seat as the cruiser sped along over back roads. They were both glad the Cops had managed to rebuild their flying car; the roads were in rough shape, and any jostling to Benny’s still-healing arm would have been unpleasant.

Finally they arrived at the little house. Benny cooed about how adorable it was. “It looks so cozy!”

Good Cop got out and walked around to the other side to let Benny out. The astronaut accepted the help, letting himself be pulled to his feet. They were greeted at the door. “It’s so good to finally meet you,” Ma cooed to him. “Our son’s told us so much about you.”

“They have?” Benny seemed surprised by the notion.

“Well of course dear, you’re their friend, aren’t you?”

“Oh. Yeah, we’re friends!”

“A little more than just friends,” Good Cop continued, reaching for Benny’s hand. Benny beamed up at him, slipping his hand into the cop’s and squeezing gently.

“Oh, finally told him, did you?” Ma teased, giving her son a smirk.

“Wait- you told your _parents??_ ”

“They told us,” Pa confirmed. “They were quite distraught when they realized it was _you_.”

“Yeah, we kinda already had that conversation…” Benny murmured, pressing closer to Good Cop’s side. “And now that I’ve had a few days to think about it, I can get where B was coming from. I don’t think I _would_ have been too happy if they’d said something right from the start. Still,” he smirked, “two years was a bit excessive.”

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” Bad Cop sighed.

“Nope!”

“Come in, sit down,” Ma urged, motioning for them to follow her to the living room. “It’ll be more comfortable than standing in the doorway.”


End file.
